The Blog of Rachel Pollack

One of the more interesting aspects of traditional Judaism is the concept of blessings for almost every occasion. There are blessings for waking up in the morning, for washing hands, for eating various foods, for doing or seeing something for the first time…

It may sound excessive, or tedious, or even a bit silly—and I have to admit I’ve never tried keeping track and saying them all, but it’s way to make ordinary life sacred. My father once spent some time with a Hasidic family in Jerusalem, and I remember him talking about the blessings throughout the day as a wonderful experience.

(At least one of the blessings that men say in the morning is controversial. This is the line “Blessed are You, God, king of the universe, who has not made me a woman.” In an attempt to remove this from its seeming extreme misogyny, some modern Orthodox Jews maintain it’s said out of respect to women. That is, to be a woman is an exalted state, and men are grateful that they do not have to live up to such a standard.

Nice idea—as long as they don’t pretend this was the original meaning—but I prefer the more radical approach of the Reconstructionist prayer book: “Blessed are you, the Imageless, who has made me in your image.”

A couple of years ago it struck me that it might be nice to come up with a series of blessings to say when specific Major Arcana cards come up in a Tarot spread. The idea is to make each one reflective in some way of the particular card. Here are my Blessings For the Major Arcana. Cards are from the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck, unless otherwise indicated.

Fool—Blessed are you, Ignorant One, who leads us forward, in brightness and joy.

Magician—Blessed are you, source of all light, who surrounds us in roses and lilies.

High Priestess—Blessed are you, Silent One, who sits in the doorway of secrets.

Empress—Blessed are you, Mother of Passion, who brings life to the dirt and joy to our bodies.

Emperor—Blessed are you, Planner and Architect, who designs the four corners.

Hierophant—Blessed are you, Holder of Mysteries, who shows us and teaches us.

My connection of the chariot with questions is really to do with the sphinxes on many decks, and the idea of Oedipus as the answerer of the sphinx’s mysterious riddle.
thanks for your interest, Douglas.

Thank you for the wonderful blessings for the cards. I will be using them and passing them on. I’m doing a Tarot Meditation group and they would be wonderful to weave in.

Celtic Spirituality also has this focus on blessings for every occassion … for the lighting of the morning fire, for seeing the sun in the morning, for milking the cow, for greetings and departures, for smooring the fire. I think the pagan practices meshed with the Christian ones and a belief in the sacredness of nature, of trees, of animals, of all flowed into the practice.

So great that you are bloggin regularly! It is hard to keep up. I got my blog up in July and was posting regularly for a couple of months, but the busy start up of May has kept me away. Lots of things to say, just finding the time to get it up is the challenge!

[…] Pollack, Tarot Wisdom Woman, is my greatest Tarot inspiration and this morning she has a wonderful post on her (newly active) blog about Blessings in the Jewish Tradition. She then ends with wonderful blessings for each of Marjor Arcana cards. Here is the one for […]

What a wonderful way to add meaning to our lives, tarot and what we find sacred. I will be making sure to discuss this tomorrow in our chat. It will add another layer to our discussion! So glad to be able to read your words.

[…] Pollack, Tarot Wisdom Woman, is my greatest Tarot inspiration and this morning she has a wonderful post on her (newly active) blog about Blessings in the Jewish Tradition. She then ends with wonderful blessings for each of Marjor Arcana cards. Here is the one for […]